


Love Hearts

by rubberglue



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Escort Service, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2016-02-09
Packaged: 2018-05-19 08:03:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5959993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rubberglue/pseuds/rubberglue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Against her better judgement, Gwen hires an escort to accompany her to her father's birthday celebration.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> Written for February's [Round Table Minutes](http://roundtablemanagers.tumblr.com/post/138479360577/round-table-minutes-february-2016-theme).

“You owe me one,” said Gwaine.

Arthur squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his forehead. “I know I owe you but this?”

“Hey, I’m not thrilled either but I’ve run out of choices. Valentine’s Day is a busy period. You can keep the fee.”

“I’m not broke like you,” growled Arthur. “I don’t need the money.”

“You do have a stubborn streak of integrity.”

“And you, with your lack of integrity, apparently have no qualms using it.”

“None at all. I’ll email you the details. Ta!” Without waiting for an answer, Gwaine hung up on him.

 

* * *

 

_With dark hair, sexy, brown, bedroom eyes and a body made for sex, Gwaine is every girl’s dream. A great conversationalist with the ability to make anyone feel comfortable, a date with him will be spectacular._

Gwen read the email that Elena had forwarded her again and the headache she’d felt building the whole day finally took hold. It was the 21st century for goodness sake so why was everyone so concerned about her single status? Her father’s less than subtle threat to spring more blind dates on her had led her to lying about having a boyfriend and now she was hiring an escort to bring to her father’s birthday celebration. Her life was a farce. With a groan, she dropped her face into her hands.

 

* * *

 

An old lady stared suspiciously as Arthur walked up the creaky stairs. Still, he flashed her a wide smile before he continued up. Perhaps this Guinevere person didn’t get many visitors. Probably why she decided to splurge on an escort for this party, especially since her living conditions didn’t exactly scream money. Once he got to her flat, he took a deep breath to calm the nerves in his stomach then knocked.

“Hang on!” From behind the door, Arthur could hear someone scrambling around, some muttering before finally, the door swung open. “Hello!”

Guinevere was small, pretty woman with a wide smile - a smile that quickly faded into a frown. “You’re not what I was expecting. Unless, uh, you’re not my date.” She flushed and bit her lip. “I didn’t mean to assume.”

“Unfortunately, your original date couldn’t make it.” Arthur wasn’t sure why he was feeling a frisson of annoyance at her. He didn’t think he was that much a step down from Gwaine. “So you got me.”

Her eyes widened. “Uh, sure. Let me get my coat then we can go. I was told you have a car.”

Still feeling irrationally annoyed, he nodded curtly. “I do.”

 

* * *

 

Escorts must make a lot of money judging by the sleek, fancy car Arthur drove. Or he might have rented it to make up for his poor attitude. Gwen darted a look at him as he drove and sighed inwardly. He was conventionally attractive with his blonde hair and blue eyes but he did not seem the least like the charming date she was promised. In fact, it almost seemed like he was sulking. She should have never listened to Elena and just told her father that she and her imaginary boyfriend had broken up. Sure, she would have to endure snide remarks from some relatives, but if Arthur the escort was going to sulk the whole trip, then she was going to be inundated with snide remarks anyway.

She cleared her throat. “Did you get to read our cover story?”

“Yeah. Met you at the university library, asked you out for coffee, the rest is history. We like snuggling in your flat and watching TV when you are not studying for your medical degree.” Arthur dutifully recited it all flatly and the dread that had started building in her stomach since the moment she’d opened the door grew. “I refuse to be an art student.”

“That’s not a problem. What do you want to be?”

“Political science.”

“Uh, sure.”

Arthur grunted, then continued to ignore her. As they got closer to her brother’s place, the feeling of disquiet only increased and Gwen was just about to call the whole thing off when he turned into the driveway. Unfortunately, Aunt Kathleen was standing outside smoking and there was no way she could tell Arthur to leave.

“Wait for me to open the door,” he said when she placed a hand on the handle. He walked over to her side, opened the door and offered her his hand, which she took after a moment’s hesitation. His hand closed around hers, warm and strong.

“Guinevere darling!” Tossing her cigarette on to the ground and stepping on it, Aunt Kathleen opened her arms and walked over to Gwen. “Lovely to see you again. And this must be your boyfriend.” She narrowed her eyes. “You look familiar.”

Arthur smiled, the first Gwen had seen, and shook her aunt’s hand. “Arthur Penn. It’s great to meet Gwen’s family.”

“Oh my!” Aunt Kathleen, always one to overreact, clasped her hands to her bosom. “Guinevere! You never told us that you were dating the Penn family.”

“She’s not dating my family,” said Arthur. “Just me.” He slid one arm around her shoulder, tugged her close and pressed a kiss into her hair. Gwen didn’t react, mainly because she was far too stunned at the revelation that she had brought Arthur Penn to her family gathering.

As Aunt Kathleen continued to coo over Arthur as she led them into the house, Gwen followed in shock. At some point, just before they stepped into her brother’s house, Arthur had whispered into her ear to close her mouth and act better.

Easy for him, Gwen thought as she brought her foot down on his, biting down on her lip when he winced.

 

* * *

 

One thing about being born into a family of politicians was that Arthur knew how to charm strangers. He smiled, he listened and he made sure to praise Gwen as much as possible. After all, for whatever reason, she had hired an escort. He might not be sex god Gwaine but he was more than suitable boyfriend material and for some reason, he was determined to show Gwen that.

The moment her aunt made the last introductions, Gwen snagged his hand and dragged him away from the main living room. They walked further into the house until they came to a door. Looking around, Gwen opened the door, pulled him in and closed it.

“You are Arthur Penn?”

“Did you just drag me into a closet?” He grinned and put his hands on her hip and shifted her closer to him so that he could feel her breasts pressing against him. It wasn’t like the closet was very spacious so holding her close was completely logical.

“Why didn’t you tell me who you were and why on earth are you working as an escort? It can’t be for money and it can’t be because you can’t find a girlfriend!” She jabbed his chest and he caught her hand.

There was a small window in the closet, letting in a sliver of moonlight. In the dim light, Arthur could see Gwen glaring at him, her chin tilted angrily up and a frown creasing her brows. He had thought her pretty, but now, as her eyes sparkled with annoyance, she was sexy as hell.

“I was doing a favour for a friend,” he said, moving so that she pressed up against him. Slowly, he eased her hand open, then threaded his fingers through hers, then brought it to his chest.

“A favour!”

“Mmm.” With his other hand, he tilted her face up. “Gwaine, unfortunately, is a friend of mine and I owed him for helping me with my sister. He got chicken pox and couldn't be here.”

She blinked then scowled. “Great! I wanted a charming, unassuming date and I got you. Now, the whole world is going to think I’m dating you and this is the opposite of what I wanted. I wanted to be left alone! No one will leave me alone if they think I’m dating you!”

“Hey, I’m doing you a favour here.”

“No, you’re doing Gwaine a favour. I am paying for this.” She shook her head. “Arghh. I knew this was a bad idea from the beginning -”

With every move she made as she grumbled about him, about Gwaine, about infectious diseases and someone called Elena, her body rubbed against his, causing Arthur to develop a great discomfort in his trousers.

“Guinevere,” he said finally.

“What?”

“Stop complaining.” Then he did what he wanted to do the moment she’d dragged him into this tiny closet. He kissed her.

 

* * *

 

Arthur Penn could kiss. Boy, could he kiss. His hands slid into her hair and she clutched at his shoulders, trying to press herself closer to him. Against her thigh, she could feel evidence of his arousal and it was foolish, but she reveled that she, plain old Gwen, was able to make him feel this way.

It was inevitable but someone knocked on the door. “Hey, this moved from cute to disturbing about 5 minutes ago. Get out of there.”

“Damn,” Arthur breathed into her ear, sending more arrows of desire shooting through her. Then, he pressed a hard, quick kiss on her lips before letting her go. But he didn’t let go for long. His hands adjusted her blouse, then tugged at her hair. He smiled. “Now you only look 50% ravished.”

Gwen rolled her eyes and patted at her hair again but she knew it was a lost cause. Everyone outside would assume, not wrongly, that the two of them had snuck into the closet to make out. Taking a deep breath, she closed her hand over the door handle and opened it to her brother’s grinning mug.

 

Throughout his time with Gwen’s family, Arthur made sure to always be touching her. He didn’t want her to forget how good the kiss in the closet was and he had plans to continue it. If he didn’t have a hand on the small of her back, he played with her curls or draped an arm around her shoulder. In the beginning, she had been stiff and she chewed on her lower lip constantly, but as time passed, with the help of wine and the fact that her family easily accepted that she was dating him, she relaxed. Right now, they were on the sofa after a fairly enjoyable dinner, Gwen pressed into his side, her head resting on his shoulder. He pulled at her curls, enjoying the feel of them spilling over his hand. He wondered what her curls would feel like across his body, and heat rushed through him.

“Love Hearts?” A young girl, a cousin of Gwen he thought, passed him a packet of sweets and he grabbed a handful.

Her brother, Elyan was rambling on about some incident he was involved in and Gwen was being the dutiful sister, listening avidly and peppering him with questions. The rest of the family seemed taken by Elyan's stories. Arthur looked down at the sweets in his hand.

_Hot Lips._

He passed it to Gwen, gesturing for her to read it.

She pressed her lips together and looked away.

He popped it into his mouth and selected another sweet.

_Great Guy._

“That’s me,” he whispered into her ear, and was rewarded with a subtle but painful jab into his side.

_Date Me_.

Gwen shot him a glare, then beckoned her cousin over and grabbed her own handful of Love Hearts.

_Dream On._

Gwen showed it to him, flashed him a smile, then stuck out her tongue and placed the sweet on it, before swallowing it.

It was the hottest thing he’d seen.

_Kiss Me._

“No,” she muttered, then laughed at something Elyan said.

_Like You._

_Cheeky Boy._

_It's True._

_Take It Easy._

_I Want U._

Gwen stretched and yawned, her hand smacking into his face, on purpose Arthur suspected.

“I’m exhausted and I have class tomorrow. We should go get going, sweetie.” She untangled herself from Arthur and stood, and while she smiled down at him, her eyes sent him another message.

 

* * *

 

 The ringing jolted her from her sleep and with her eyes still closed, Gwen felt for her phone, only to bump into a warm, hard body. An arm slid over her waist and someone nuzzled her neck.

 "Leave it.”

“Arthur Penn!” She shoved at him as memories of the night before came flooding back. Arthur kissing her at her door, showing her just how clever his hands were. Her own complete lack of self control as she pulled at his tie, then practically tore his shirt off him. The feel of his hands, then his mouth on every part of her body.

“Surely you’re not having regrets,” he muttered as he ignored her shoving and pulled her into his warmth.

“I have lessons.”

“Liar. You told me that it’s your free day today.” His lips brushed against her ear before he nibbled on it. She stifled a groan as her body remembered what last night felt like.

“I can’t believe I paid for someone to sleep with me.” She turned and buried her face in his chest.

“No, you paid Gwaine.” With one finger, he urged her to look at him. “I am not Gwaine.”

“No, I guess not.” She moved from his embrace and sat up. Then she grinned. “He has sexy, bedroom eyes.”

His smile was lazy but his movements were not and he pounced on her, quickly pressing her into her bed as he straddled her. Gwen ran her hands over his hips to his thighs. “He’s also a spectacular date.”

With a growl, Arthur bent down and kissed her hard. “I’ll show you spectacular.”

 

 

* * *

 

Gwen sat in the lecture theatre, waiting for the professor to get started. Arthur had dropped her off, after they had spent a good two days in each other’s company.

“Hey. So how was Gwaine?” Elena sat down next to her.

“Uh, he was fine.”

Elena grinned. “Told you. Next time you have to visit family again, you should hire him.”

“Yeah, maybe.” She pulled out her pencil case and looked for her favourite pen. Her hand closed over a Love Heart.

_You’re Mine._

Thankfully the professor started to speak, because Gwen was pretty sure she had a silly grin on her face and she didn’t really want to explain why to Elena.


End file.
